Grace E. Speights

Meeting of June 22, 2011 - Disparate Treatment in Hiring

Grace E. Speights is a partner in Morgan Lewis & Bockius' Labor and Employment Practice, Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office, chair of the Complex Employment Litigation Practice, and co- chair of the firm's Diversity Committee. Ms. Speights focuses her practice on counseling and defending clients in connection with employment discrimination claims, primarily those involving class claims, and on counseling clients regarding best practices for corporate diversity initiatives. Ms. Speights has handled many employment discrimination class action cases. She also has defended several cases involving claims of discrimination in public accommodations.

Prior to joining the Labor and Employment Practice, Ms. Speights was an associate and partner in the firm's Litigation Practice, where she focused on employment discrimination litigation, employee benefits litigation, and insurance coverage litigation. She has litigation and trial experience in federal courts nationwide and in the District of Columbia's local courts.

Ms. Speights joined Morgan Lewis in 1984, after having clerked for the late Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was elevated to the partnership in October 1991. Ms. Speights also has served on the adjunct faculty of the Washington College of Law of the American University.

Ms. Speights is very active in bar association activities and has served as an officer in several associations in the Washington, D.C. area. Ms. Speights also serves as a member of the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Commission. In addition, she served for six years as a member of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Committee on Admissions, which is responsible for preparing and grading the essay examination of the District of Columbia Bar and for making recommendations to the Court regarding the admission of applicants to the bar, and the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Tenure and Disabilities.

Ms. Speights has been actively involved in recruitment and management activities at Morgan Lewis. She has served as a member of the Washington Office Management Committee, and, when her practice was dedicated to general litigation, she served as the deputy assistant manager of the Litigation Section of the firm's Washington office. She also served as the hiring partner and chair of the Recruiting Committee of the firm's Washington office from 1994-1998. Currently, she is a member of the firm's 19-member Advisory Board.

Ms. Speights is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.